More Homeowners Falling Delinquent on Mortgages | Business

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LAS VEGAS -- The number of Southern Nevada homeowners delinquent on their mortgage payments has climbed steadily for the past several months. In some cases, it's people just willing to walk away from their homes, and in other cases, homeowners are holding out hope that they will get a loan modification.

In any given neighborhood, chances are good that a homeowner is the process of walking away from their mortgage. In the past, five months was typically the longest a homeowner could stay in their home until the bank would come knocking. But that is no longer the case.

Nick Nolf with The Nolf Group has been in the real estate business through the boom, the bust, and now the slow turn-around.

"We've reached the low. People are no longer in that mentality of I am in that sinking ship so a lot of people that can actually and physically pay their mortgages were making a decision, saying I am looking at this as a business decision," said Nolf, The Nolf Group.

He says the sinking ship is slowly starting to sail and the increase in delinquencies will not cause another round of foreclosures.

"I don't believe looking at the current market we will see any future wave of foreclosures in any foreseeable future. And looking to the future, the five year interest-only loans will be due in 2011 meaning more people may add to those delinquent numbers," he said.

"It could certainly lead to additional issues. My payment went up $600 a month," said Paul Harris, mortgage lender. Harris is with Residential Capital Mortgage speaks from experience. He has an adjustable rate mortgage and he says the sooner homeowners seek help, the better.

"Call your lenders and ask them, will you freeze my rate? Will you fix this rate? In many cases the banks have done that," he said.

Although the number of delinquent payments is on the rise, it is expected that more of these homeowners will opt to do short sales or loan modifications before walking away from the home.